Fire Commissioner Salvatore J. Cassano will preside at a graduation ceremony for 49 paramedics tomorrow at11 a.m. at the FDNY training academy on Randall’s Island. All of the members have undergone rigorous training programs at the Emergency Medical Service Academy and will be assigned to various EMS stations throughout the city. This new paramedic class consists of 48 FDNY Emergency Medical Technicians (EMTs) who are being promoted to the rank of paramedic and 1 Deputy Chief, Rosario Terranova, who is being upgraded to Paramedic.

“The members of FDNY EMS responded to over 1.2 million calls last year,” said Commissioner Cassano. “Their work is difficult, but rewarding. At the end of every day, the members of FDNY EMS know they have impacted someone’s life and they have made a difference.”

Three of the newest Paramedics are members of the United States Military. Paramedic LaReina Lawrence served in Operation Enduring Freedom, Paramedic Nicholas Graziano served in the U.S. Army, and Paramedic Timothy Janis will be activated to serve with the Army National Guard in April of this year as part of Operation Iraqi Freedom.

The members of this class have had nineteen pre-hospital saves, including Paramedic Staci Bossack, who saved an 84-year-old woman from cardiac arrest in the Bronx, while on her first tour as a new Paramedic.